Celebrity

Mahershala Ali Won Big with His Daughter’s Birth Before Oscar Win

Posted on February 27, 2017

Before actor Mahershala Ali won his first Oscar for Best Actor in Moonlight, he won big with the birth of his first daughter, Bari Najma Ali.

Ali announced the birth during his Academy Award acceptance speech, “I just wanna thank my wife, who was in her third trimester doing awards season. We just had a daughter four days ago [huge applause from the audience].”

He added, “I just wanna thank her for being such a soldier through this process… and really carrying me through it all. Thank you, I really appreciate it. Peace and blessings.”

Before then, he shared a photo of his wife Amatus Sami-Karim cradling their baby on his Instagram page, captioned with her name, how it is pronounced and a hashtag about the baby’s astrological sign.

“Bari (Bar-ee) Najma Alii ? 2/22/17 #pisces,” he captioned the photo.

Bari (Bar-ee) Najma Ali ?2/22/17 #pisces
A post shared by Mahershala Ali (@mahershalaali) on Feb 24, 2017 at 12:22pm PST

Baby girl escaped being called Oscaria. During a pre-Oscar interview, the actor who also stars in a heavily nominated film, Hidden Figures, joked that if the baby arrived after he won the Oscar he would name her Oscaria if a girl.

Ali made Oscar history as well. He instantly made history as the first Muslim to win the Best Actor award ever. Ali’s film Moonlight took home the Best Film award, albeit after a much talked about controversial and history-making moment. Presenter Warren Beatty was given the duplicate envelope for Best Actress. He opened the envelope and noticed the error and peered inside the envelope looking for another card. Beatty hesitated and did not announce the winner and instead showed the envelope to his co-presenter Faye Dunaway who immediately announced La La Land, which was the movie listed under Emma Stone’s name.

Last night also was historic because the most Black winners won in major categories ever.

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Celebrity

Hollywood’s Newest ‘It Guy’ Mahershala Ali to Name First Baby Oscar if He Wins, Maybe

Posted on February 7, 2017

Best Supporting Actor Academy Award contender Mahershala Ali has been racking up awards for his break out roles in Moonlight, Luke Cage, House of Cards and Hidden Figures and now he is considering naming his soon-to-be born first child Oscar if he wins.

Well, kinda. When interviewed by E! News Marc Malkin on the red carpet of the annual Oscar nominees luncheon this week, the current ‘It” guy of Hollywood, was asked if he would consider naming his and wife Amatus Sami-Karim’s baby, after the nickname of the famous Academy Award trophy.

“Maybe as a middle name,” the recent SAG Award Best Supporting Actor winner answers coyly in a video replay of the interview. “If it’s a girl , Oscaria.”

The hardest working man in tinsel town also said the award season is readying him for endless nights given that everything is coming to head simultaneously.

Everything is happening, “literally at the same time,” he told Malkin. “She’s in her third trimester and we are in the middle of the Oscar’s unfolding and all these other award shows. It’s finishing as the whole [award show] season finishes.”

What an exhausting schedule for Ali, who also took home the the Critics Choice Supporting Actor Award for his role as Juan in Moonlight.

“I’m just happy if I’ll still be on my feet come February 27.” he added, referencing the end of award season. But that is when the endless nights really begin, as Malkin reminded him.

Ali, who appeared in the Hunger Games franchise films, agreed.

“This is like the warmup for the next 10 years or 5, or whatever it is…18, I’ll take it.”

Ali and Sami-Karim met as New York University students and tied the knot in 2013. They announced news of the pregnancy in December 2016.

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WATCH!

He recently beamed about his wife in an interview with Elle magazine.

“She and I have known each other for a really long time, (about) 17 years,” he confided. “So, at this point, she’s seen a big shift in things, but at the same time, she’ll ground me real quick if I start feeling myself a little too much. She’s very real, like, seriously.”

Ha! Love it! Congrats!

photo: Getty

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Bryce Howard’s Red Carpet Picks Give Us One More Reason to Love her

Posted on January 30, 2017

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards went down last night at The Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles, California and has been notable this year because of its diversity among winners (Viola Davis for Best Actress and Denzel Washington for Best Actor in Fences, Hidden Figures for Best Cast and Mahershala Ali for Best Actor Supporting Role in Moonlight).

But it was noteworthy in the fashion world for another reason.

Bryce Dallas Howard, who we’ve featured in the past for her red carpet wardrobe, is buzzed about for the $309 dollar social impact dress she wore on the carpet. The red-sequined figure hugging gown is made by a company called Dress the Population which donates half of its proceeds to charity.This month they’re donating proceeds for this dress (not Howard’s) to The Trevor Project, a national 24-hour, toll free confidential suicide hotline for gay and questioning youth.

This not the first time Howard, who was nominated for her performance in an episode of Netflix‘s Black Mirror, has opted to skip the expensive couture and custom designed dresses many stars wear on the red carpet.

In December, the Twilight saga series star wore a dreamy yellow Top Shop gown to the Critics Choice Awards, which sells for just $240 at Topshop. At the 2016 Golden Globes, the daughter of famed actor turned director Ron Howard, wore a blue Jenny Packham gown that she bought herself at Neiman Marcus the week of the show.

These choices are awesome because in a world where many people clamor to imitate celeb style, she makes it achievable for fashion conscious women of all socio-economic levels. Also, you got to give it up to her for giving back while looking fabulous! Score!

More reasons to love Bryce! Swoon!

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